Literary Opportunities Planned For Fall
As the summer winds down, the book world warms up. And along with the various releases from major and minor publishing houses, you can expect to see a number of literary-minded events filling the Inland Northwest calendar.
Here’s a brief look at the latest news:
It’s a bit far for Spokane-area readers to drive, but Lewiston’s Lewis-Clark Center for Arts & History is offering a fall literary series that sounds worthy of checking out.
After all, any time you blend history and literature, something interesting is bound to occur.
Sept. 22 (7 p.m.): Former Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus will appear as part of the center’s “Meet the Author” series. Andrus will speak on and then sign copies of his book “Politics Western-Style.”
Sept. 25 (7:30 p.m.): Mary Clearman Blew, noted author and professor of creative writing at the University of Idaho, will deliver the 16th Annual Wallace Stegner Lecture, titled “Crossing the Great Divide.”
Oct. 1 (7:30 p.m.): In another “Meet the Author” event, Tracy Vallier, former marine biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, will read from his book “Island & Rapids,” which tells the geological story of Hells Canyon.
Nov. 19 (5:30-8:30 p.m.): The Third Annual Celebrity Book Auction & Meet the Authors Party will feature sales of books donated by the likes of Jerry Sloan (coach of the Utah Jazz), Mike Price (Washington State University football coach) and others. Admission is $5.
The Lewis-Clark Center for Arts & History, 415 Main, is affiliated with Lewis-Clark State College (although independently funded). For specific program information, call (208) 799-2243.
Sandpoint is holding another “Let’s Talk About It” book discussion series, beginning Sept. 10.
The series, which is sponsored by the Sandpoint Writers Collective and the East Bonner County Library District, features five autobiographies. Discussions, which will include a visiting scholar and copies of the book for all participants, will be held on alternate Thursdays at the Microtel Inn, Highway 95 North.
The schedule: Sept. 10, “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin”; Sept. 24, “A Mormon Mother: An Autobiography,” by Annie Clark Tanner; Oct. 8, “Desert Exile,” by Yoshiko Uchida; Oct. 22, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou; and Nov. 5, “Black Elk Speaks,” by John Neihardt.
Space is limited. For registration information, call Gloria Ray at (208) 263-6930, ext. 204.
Mark down the dates Oct. 24-25. That’s the weekend the Northwest Bookfair, the annual Seattle-based book festival, takes place.
Authors such as Dave Barry, Pam Houston, Paul Theroux, Gerry Spence, Jim Lehrer and Robert McNeil, Lawrence Block, Tim Egan, Jonathan Raban and many others will circulate, delivering speeches, lectures and readings over the course of the two-day event.
Especially notable should be the “conversation” between Theroux and Raban concerning Theroux’s controversial new book, “Sir Vidia’s Shadow.”
Held at Seattle’s Pier 48, Northwest Bookfair requires no admission fee (although good luck finding affordable parking). We’ll post more news as time goes by.
Note this for now, though: Some 25,000 visitors took in last year’s festival.
Hot to get published?
If you’re having trouble getting published, Writer’s Digest magazine has some advice for you. Celebrating the creation of its new Web site (www.writersdigest.com), the magazine lists what it considers the “Hot List of the most hip, most prestigious, most writer-friendly magazines.”
The list, in order, is: Outside, The Atlantic Monthly, Wired Magazine, Zoetrope: All Story, Civilization, Salon, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, trips, Boulevard, Glamour.
Calling all idiots
Latest in “The Complete Idiot’s Guide” series by Alpha Books is a guide to, of all things, “Classical Mythology” (406 pages, $16.95 paper).
It offers, if you’re ready for this, “Idiot-proof steps to figuring out who’s who in the world of myth - both human and divine.”
Just the thing for the family bookshelf, right between the Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare.
The reader board
David M. Delo, author of “The Yellowstone, Forever,” will read from his novel at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington.